A man who describes himself as a shy and helpless romantic at heart, a former mall Santa Claus, is now an accused serial killer who, Toronto police allege, buried the skeletal remains of his victims’ dismembered bodies in the bottom of outdoor planters and flower pots.

Parts of more human bodies may be hidden in planters or gardens at homes throughout Toronto. No one knows exactly which ones.

In an investigation unlike any before seen in the history of the nation’s largest city, police have charged 66-year-old freelance landscaper Bruce McArthur with five-counts of first-degree murder, most of the victims men who had been reported missing from Toronto’s gay village area.

The remains of at least three people were recovered from large planters at a midtown Toronto property linked to McArthur and where he may have previously landscaped.

Alleged McArthur victims Andrew Kinsman, left, and Selim Esen.Handout

Police are now working through McArthur’s client list, scouring some 30 properties across the city with every expectation more body parts will be found. Other planters have been seized, while two sites are being excavated where people might be buried. Police wouldn’t divulge the locations.

“We do believe there are more and I have no idea how many more there are going to be,” Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters at a press conference Monday.

Among the questions now, if the allegations are true, how long ago did McArthur start killing? Most serial killers begin their killing careers in their middle to late 30s, said renowned forensic psychiatrist Dr. John Bradford — raising the possibility McArthur has been active since he was considerably younger, and only now has been caught. “It’s possible there are quite a few other victims out there, and some of them may be younger.”

In a case experts said has eerie and grisly echoes of notorious gay serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who raped, murdered and dismembered 17 boys and men, McArthur was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder on Jan. 18 in the deaths of Selim Esen, 44, and Andrew Kinsman, 49.

On Monday, McArthur was brought back before the court and charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, 58, of Toronto, reported missing in October 2012; Soroush Mahmudi, 50, also of Toronto and who was reported missing in August 2015 and 47-year-old Dean Lisowick, who was living in a city homeless shelter.

“It’s a serial killer — an alleged serial killer. He’s taken some steps to cover his tracks and we have to uncover these victims and identify these victims,” Idsinga said.

The Toronto Police Forensic Unit and Canine Unit search for clues at a home at 53 Mallory Crescent related to arrest of 66-year-old landscaper Bruce McArthur on Jan. 21, 2018.Stan Behal/Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network

Asked whether the case could prove worse than the serial killing spree by former B.C. pig farmer Robert “Willie” Pickton, convicted in 2007 of the second-degree murders of six women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but who reportedly confessed to an uncover agent to 49 murders in total, Idsinga responded, “I don’t know that.”

Anyone who has had landscaping done by McArthur is being urged to contact police, if they haven’t already been contacted, to make arrangements to have their gardens and yards searched.

Three of McArthur’s alleged victims were from the city’s gay village and men of Middle Eastern descent.

However, Idsinga said the two others don’t fit the same profile and that police are looking at least as far back as 2010. “(The investigation) certainly encompasses more than the gay community,” he said. “It encompasses the city of Toronto.” He would not get into specifics about the victims’ relationships with McArthur, but police earlier said McArthur had a long-term sexual relationship with Kinsman.

Dean Lisowick.Toronto Police Service

Police had initially shut down persistent rumours that a serial killer was prowling the gay village, stressing that as recently as December, they did not know whether Esen’s and Kinsman’s disappearances were linked or if the men were still alive.

“We know that many in the community are struggling to understand and process these developments,” Idsinga said .

At Woody’s, a bar in the gay village, a man’s conversation with the bartender began, “Have you heard the latest? We’re up to five.”

“Everyone just feels sad and uneasy and I’ve been texting people all morning telling them to come over and meet up if they need to talk,” said a bartender at Woody’s, who asked not to be named. “The entire village has been affected by this because we’re like one big family.”

The bartender described Selim Esen as “a total sweetheart.” He said the whole situation feels like a betrayal. “We’re all really trusting here, so to think that it’s someone who could just be sitting beside you is terrifying,” added another man seated at the bar.

With someone in custody, many people said there is a sense of relief. “My biggest fear was that these people were being tortured in a basement somewhere,” said a server at Garage, a restaurant on the city’s Church Street.

But for others who perhaps brushed off fears a serial killer could be in their presence, the news has sparked new terror. “I honestly didn’t think these murders were connected and now that we know they are, I’m afraid that more people are going to turn up,” said one man at a local bookstore.

Most serial killers are white males, said Bradford, who has sat across tables from sex killers Paul Bernardo and Pickton. “With gay serial killers it’s more complicated,” he said.

It’s hard to pin down the psychodynamics that motivate serial killers. But if the killer hasn’t come to terms with his homosexuality “and they act out with a gay partner it can bring on feelings of anger, frustration and disgust with themselves, and it may drive homicides,” Bradford said.

“They need the sexual outlet because they are gay. But every time they engage in a sexual relationship it may fill them with guilt and angst and all kinds of other difficulties.”

Bruce McArthur, 66, of Toronto, was first charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police have now announced three new charges against McArthur.Facebook

At 66, McArthur is of the post post-war era. “He was brought up in a much more conservative time and even though being gay today is very acceptable, he may have some of those older ideas about gay people,” Bradford said.

On Monday, a tent was set up in the back yard of the house where the remains of the three bodies were discovered. The house was blocked off with police tape.

Planter pots were turned over.

— With files from Vanessa Hrvatin and Chris Arnold, National Post, and the Canadian Press